Reading a knowledge tree is like climbing a tree.

With conventional linear writing, the reader encounters each idea (sentence) sequentially, from beginning to end. With a knowledge tree, the reader encounters the single "root" idea (branch) that summarizes the entire writing. He or she then "climbs up" a level and encounters a (linear) sequence of about eight ideas (branches) that, together, explain the meaning of the root idea. Each of those approximately eight ideas (branches) can have about eight branches growing upward. There is no limit to the number of levels of detail, and branches can have a varying number of levels of detail. Rather than reading the entire tree, the reader actively decides how far up to explore each idea (branch).